She hesitated, then her chin quivered. “I don’t know how to move on.”
“You don’t need to move on.” He pressed his hand to her heart. “You keep him here. You remember the good times, but you can’t forget the bad either. He doesn’t deserve you, Emma, and that’s the bottom line here.”
She glanced down, and when she looked at him again, it felt like he was seeing a new side of her. “I don’t want to feel like this anymore.” Her voice was soft, gentle. “I was never this woman . . . untrusting and doubting. I want to be the woman I was before Jake, without the worry that you’re going to hurt me.”
And there it was. His way inside her heart.
He rose, bringing the heat of his body against hers, threading his fingers into her hair. “I am not Jake, Emma. Tell me.”
“You’re not Jake,” she whispered. “You’re not Jake,” she repeated, stronger this time.
Silence fell between them, and he allowed it, giving her time to process. He would never say more than he just had about this past boyfriend of hers. Nor would he ever defend his position, because as much as she deserved better, so did he. Once, he’d been with a woman who couldn’t see him or be happy with the guy he was. Emma wasn’t the only one who hated repeating mistakes.
The tears in her eyes began to slowly dry, the pain on her face shifting to something still new and undiscovered between them. She took one step closer, pressing her soft breasts against his chest, her hands slowly coming up to his face. “You’re Shep,” she said, and it was all she needed to say. It was all that mattered.
For the first time, Emma wasn’t looking at him with her guard up.
* * *
Emotion, heat, and everything in between blazed through Emma as Shep gathered her in his arms then carried her upstairs to the bedroom. When he laid her out in the middle of the mattress, his lips didn’t return to hers, filling her with heat the way he normally did. Instead, he studied her intently, stripping apart the layers of her soul until he found exactly what he was looking for. His examination felt nearly as erotic as his addicting touch when he pushed up her shirt until he had it over her head. He reached underneath her back, unclipping her bra, slowly dragging it down off her shoulders. With his potent gaze on her face, he unbuttoned her shorts, then pulled those and her panties slowly down, until he bared her to him.
Her tummy clenched in intoxicating desire when he reached for his shirt, taking it off over his head with one hand. God, she couldn’t get enough of the way his muscles flexed as he unbuckled his belt then opened the button of his jeans. The side of his mouth curved up, telling her she was being blatantly obvious about how much he turned her on. He sent his jeans along with his boxer briefs to the ground, and his erect cock sprang free. Her pussy tightened and warmed, desperate to have him fill her. She lifted her gaze to his when he slid between her thighs, bringing the warmth of his body across hers, until he was sliding his hands down her arms. He reached for both wrists then placed them behind her back, holding both right under her bottom, trapping her beneath him, and yet at the same time, lifting her pelvis up and bringing her heat close to him.
With his other hand on her hip, he shifted his weight onto his shoulder, and he rubbed his cock against her soaking slit. So hard. So big. She arched her hips higher, begging him to take her. He became more than something she needed, he had become an addiction, a high she kept wanting to chase.
A low groan rumbled from his throat. She knew why. She soaked his hardened length with desire only he could fulfill. With every shift of his hips, she mirrored his move, pooling heat low in her body. His mouth met hers then. What he gave her was so much more than anything he’d shown her yet. Shep was passion, and this wasn’t erotic playtime, this was emotion. With each slide of his lips against hers, and every swipe of his tongue, she understood him without him having to use words.
He wanted to keep her, protect her, cherish her.
All that emotion spilled over her, leaving her breathless. She moaned when he broke the kiss, and she gasped again when he began devouring her neck, nibbling at her flesh like he’d been starved of her. His cock was a constant tease, rubbing on her clit now, so hard, so perfect, she wanted him deep inside her. She ground up against him, and he grunted, a sound of raw, masculine need.
“I want to feel all of you.” His voice brushed against her ear. “Are you on the pill?”
“Yes.”
He lifted his hips then, his cock rubbing against her slit. His eyes positively glowed with desire. “I’m tested yearly. I’ve never had an STI.”
“Me neither,” she barely managed.
His enlarged pupils darkened his eyes when he pushed just the tip of his cock through her folds. “Yes?” he asked.
She wanted to grab his ass and push him inside. “Yes.” She struggled against his hold on her wrists. He pushed against her hip, keeping her pinned to the mattress, then he was inside her.
And it was heaven.
Skin against skin, he rocked into her, bringing pleasure with every spectacular inch of his cock. His mouth never sealed across hers. Oh, no, he watched he
r, his lips parted, a slow groan spilling from his mouth, brushing against her lips.
She saw this sweet side of Shep that came out every so often, one full of warmth and vulnerability and powerful emotion. Tears suddenly welled in her eyes again, but her tears meant everything. No longer could she run from what lay between them.
This was where love began.
With that realization—the intensity, the kindness, everything that Shep gave to her—her pleasure climbed higher. She kept her eyes on him, so connected by this powerful thing between them that she couldn’t push aside anymore.
She slid her legs up over his toned ass, pressing her ankles against him, wanting him to go deeper. He groaned, dropping his head into her neck, and she heard his rough breaths by her ear, and the masculine guttural moans. His shaft hardened further inside her, and she became so very wet when he began thrusting faster. Trapped beneath him, his body blanketing her, she met him thrust for thrust until he growled and looked at her again.
Possessiveness stormed across his gaze. She was his. And he was hers.